Minor League Transactions

This week's installment considers all transactions reported by MLB between Dec. 15, 2007, and Jan. 4, 2008. Last week's transactions are available here.

Minor league free agent signing season is in full swing, and some notable names from prospectdom past found homes for 2008, including Tim Raines Jr., Luis Terrero, Brad Eldred, Scott Strickland, Billy Traber, Franklyn German and Bubba Nelson.

The Reds signed two players from Italy, Panerati and Pizziconi, and it is the former who has the higher ceiling. The 6-foot-1, 156-pound Panerati, who turned 18 in December, pitched for Italy in the World Cup in Taiwan, the highlight coming when he struck out Cardinals top prospect Colby Rasmus. Panerati had struggled a year earlier against Team USA at the IBAF World Junior Championship in Cuba. He was named the top pitcher at the European Junior Championships when he was 17, pitching 12 1/3 scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts. Panerati's fastball currently tops out at 86 mph with some life, and the pitch should gain velocity as his frame fills out. His go-to pitch is his changeup, which sits in the mid-70s and tails away from righthanders. He also throws a curveball. Pizziconi turned 18 in October, and at 6-foot-2 and 165 pounds he is another slender Italian lefthander. His delivery has some deception and his fastball tops out in the high-80s, but his secondary stuff is rudimentary. (Ben Badler)